Building works in the Brotherton

The Brotherton will close on weekdays until 5pm while building works take place in the Special Collections Research Centre and the West Building link corridor.

Thanks to the generosity of the John Victor Bedford Will Trust, we are able to extend and refurbish the Special Collections Research Centre.

Unfortunately, this means that from 7 June, the Brotherton Library will close on weekdays until 5pm while the most disruptive and noisy building work takes place. The Main Building will open Monday to Thursday 5–8pm and on Saturdays 10am–5pm. There will be no access to the West Building and areas of the Main Building may be restricted by the project work. The restricted opening hours will continue until the start of the autumn term.

We will also have to completely close the Brotherton Library on Saturday 5 June at the beginning of the works.

Access to collections

Other campus libraries remain open for bookable study and research spaces.

You should continue to use click and collect to access items held in the Brotherton. There will be no direct access to the bookshelves in the main building.

Please contact us if you have any special requirements for your research over the summer and we will do our best to help.

You may still book an appointment to view and use items from Special Collections whilst construction work is taking place. We have a temporary research room set up in the Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery. Book your appointment using the visitor basket function on the Special Collections catalogue. View our guide for details on how to use the visitor basket.

Projects to extend, refurb and improve for research and learning

The most substantial building work is for the redevelopment and refurbishment of the Special Collections Research Centre. Thanks to a generous bequest we can extend and significantly improve the research and teaching facilities. A new flexible and digitally-enabled space will widen access to the full range of different material in our Special Collections.

The restrictions will mean the most disruptive and noisy work can be completed safely in the shortest timeframe and will also allow other projects to run in parallel.

Other projects include renewing the link corridor between the West Building and the round reading room, refurbishing the main parquet flooring, and some major stock moves to simplify how collections are organised, to make it quicker and easier to find printed material when we reopen for the next academic year.

Joanne Fitton, Head of Special Collections, said:

“This work will provide a much better environment for visitors, with better lighting, power and data, and a more comfortable and flexible space to meet the needs of both individual researchers and groups. The John Bedford room will be available for evening events and new digital equipment will help us to build on the innovations we made during lockdown, bringing our collections to remote audiences, whether they be students, researchers or the public.

We’re incredibly grateful for the generosity of John Bedford, whose bequest will open up opportunities for students and researchers alike for many years to come.”

Find out more about the Research Centre improvements and the other summer projects.